At 11 a.m. in France on November 11, 1918 -- the eleventh hour of the day of the eleventh month -- the guns of World War I fell silent. After more than four years of brutal warfare and over 16 million military and civilian deaths, the terms of a general armistice took effect. The war changed maps, introduced horrific methods of warfare, and altered the geopolitical balance of power, with the end of empires and the creation of independent democratic republics in Europe. These photos capture the human toll of what was once called "the war to end all wars."
World War I: Scenes Of Life And Death
1
An undated photo shows German soldiers crossing a field, offering to surrender to French troops at a listening post in a trench at Massiges, France.
2
An undated photo shows French soldiers firing a 155 mm mortar from a trench on the front line, at an unknown location in France.
3
French cyclists of the Cavalry Corps on the Champagne front, eastern France September 22, 1915.
4
A German gas attack on the eastern front that was photographed by a Russian airman. The 1916 image was titled, "German Frightfulness from the Air."